Moorish Spain

The Moors ruled the southern part of Spain -- Andalucia from the Arabic Al-Andalus -- for almost eight hundred years bringing poetry, art, writing and their distinctive architecture to the region.

They first came from Morocco and landed at the enormous rock jutting out of the sea next to the shores of Spain. The rock’s modern day name, Gibraltar, also comes from Arabic -- Tariq’s Rock --- named after the leader who came in 711 to conquer the Visigoths.

Jeff and I took the boys on a day trip to Gibraltar where we stood, literally, between two continents. “I can see Africa,” Luke said, looking longingly across the water to the mountains that beckoned. It would have been easy enough to charter a boat and captain to ferry across the Straits to Tangiers, but with the political upheaval sweeping across northern Africa, we thought we’d stay on the Spanish side of the Rock.

Despite its quaint British charms, Gibraltar offered its own exotic sights like the hundreds of monkeys who live and roam freely on the hilltop and the deep caves beneath the layers of rock where stalagmites and stalactites form a surreal labyrinth.

We spent most of our time in Marbella where we spent a rare week unfettered by much other than walking the beach, scouring for sea glass, playing tennis and deciding which beachside restaurant would be the best for lunch.

February in Spain isn’t the ideal time to actually swim in the sea, but that didn’t stop the boys and Charlie from a daily plunge.

One of the trip highlights was a visit to Al Hambra -- the elaborate lattice-dripped palace on a hillside where the Moors made their last stand.

We'd been there when Luke just a toddler.

This time instead of skipping through the rooms with barely a glance at the walls, he captured the intricacies of the place with his camera lens.

Washington Irving lived on the grounds during the years when the palace fortress was abandoned and dilapidated, but even then, the charms of the place entranced him.

"We crossed the threshold, and were at once transported, as if by magic wand, into other times and an oriental realm, and were treading the scenes of Arabian story."

Prayers and poetry grace the walls of the place. While most of the centuries old Arabic script proclaims "There is no victor but Allah," poetry also graces the walls of the place such as:

"Sublime work of art, fate wants me to outshine every other moment in history. How much delight for the eyes!" How true.